Monday ...

details/arrangements for Coc

Coc's mother passed away yesterday so the arrangements for both Coc and Mrs. Campbell have been finalized.  I can't imagine the grief of losing 2 family members in one week -- they are at peace, and that is the greatest gift.   I and the rest of this world were blessed to call them friends.

 

 

so, it's Monday and dang, it's been a wild one.  a "pull out your hair and scream in the parking lot" wild one.  Kevin and family all have the stomach flu -- so they aren't allowed near us.

started with the copier repair man.  hmm he knows I'm a pissed off woman.  However, I truly doubt he understood the depth of my anger.  When the damn thing craps out again ... there will be more words.

Saturday night -- a couple of favorites brought me a treat -- a 32" flat screen tv ... seriously, a freeking tv.  Kathy heard me chatting about my old office tv that I couldn't replace until it died ... and they brought me a tv -- as a gift.  only in my world.  the blessings abound.  need to pay some forward this week.  paying it forward should be fun!

 

 

more pretties ...

 

hmm... hope to see the migration of the monarch butterflies some day ... today is the receeding snow banks.  I think it's approaching 6o and it be melting quickly!

 



Iris ...

 

those who know me best -- know that the iris is my favorite flower -- if/when I ever get married -- they'll be in the bouquet and when I leave this earth -- they'll grace my urn. 

 

Aunt Margaret Ann sent an email of "beautiful" flowers and I snatched up this picture of the iris.

 

Left St. Peter today for the FIRST time since January 5th!   Needed toner and ink because the DAMN copy machine died Friday night and the repair peeps have yet to return my frantic (and pissed off) messages. 

 

on a lighter note it was a beautiful day.

 

and I'm on the front page of the Mankato paper -- haven't seen it yet ... I'm sure it's memorable.

 

M



stressed out Diva

  when is the Diva stressed out .... remember the Saturday morning gig when I woke up in the middle of the night ... panicking about a due date ...

   I was panicking a month early. 

  Damn -- and I got most of it done.  A month early.


 
 

WCW Banquet !

 

oh my -- we laughed most of the night!

 

 

thankfully, when we were really silly .. there was no camera

 

Tuesday Night was the annual Women Celebrating Women Banquet and the six of us have attended for the last 6? years ... it's always a good time ...

 

good food, good company and well, odd speaker ... the speaker was an actress portraying Maud Hart Lovelace ... and well, it was a bit awful.

 



yep, it's Spring in Minnesota

 

from the Duluth Tribune via friends facebook page.

 

dang, bring it on!!!!

 



what a week (and it's only Tuesday)

   so, the dripping and sneezing ceased -- but the sore throat and cough has arrived.  and evidently something is wacky with my eye -- it swells by the end of the day ... really attractive -- doesn't hurt or itch -- so I'm doing the adult thing and ignoring it.

  3 wildly different clients all arrived at the same time yesterday morning for appointments ... bizarre,  the first one was 4 days early ... got 'em done, had Kevin prep the "on time" ones and well the 3rd ones had to drop and run .... all before 10:00am ...

  Cameron and Wesley came to visit and then it got busier than h.  Mrs. H and I like to spoil little boys!   Cameron is a rock star in his new john deere tee shirt and matching sun glasses!  Wesley thought the bag of gummy worms was fun to gnaw on ....

  M
 

hero's

  today 2 of my hero's died -- one thirteen years ago and one today.

 

  one was 20ish and one was 58ish.

 

  God blessed both of them with physical challenges -- challenges far greater than most of us have ever experienced.  Both of them faced their challenges with courage and grace beyond words --

 

   Life isn't always fair -- I am a better person because of both of them.

 

   ... I can hear the giggling and laughter .... many thanks sharing your journey, laughter and love with me -- and everyone else who crossed your path.

 

   ... I will stop and smell the blooms and laugh with the wind.

 

rest in peace -- friend

you are the brightly shining star.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 
 

brain fart

  at 3:30 this morning I awoke to ..????

  oh God, I'm running out of time on project dead guy.  so, at 4:30 I went to take my shower and the damn water softener was charging.  back up to the home computer to build a couple of spreadsheets.

  by 5:05 I was on the road to the office and by 6:30 ... dead guy's estate return was roughed out and ready to extend ... $ xxx,xxx payment later life is good.

  M


 

Thursday Night Fun!

okay so Jon (one of the computer/tech geeks) has a new / rebuilt toy ...

check this out Video of the Farm!!

and below is the headline from today's paper -- my whining about winter is justified -- it has been freeking awful.

good morning st. peter

  I've come to the conclusion that I am the only nut job who actually gets up and goes to work at 5:30 am.   Listen peeps -- it is the best time of the day ...

no phones (no annoying salesmen) ...
I don't have to fight for time in the bathroom
the washing machine is just waiting for me
generally there is no waiting in line at McDonalds

the only other peeps I see are the exercise freeks at Anytime Fitness (really, who wants to sweat at 5:30am) .. and the morning commuters (and who wants to drive to Mpls everyday) ..

every morning I get to see sunrise and it's always fabulous!


happy Thursday
M
 

ah choooo.....

so elder #2 led the pack with the sniffles, elder #1 went down yesterday -- and well it's my turn ....

#1 was sick enough he didn't participate in the St. Patty's Day Parade .... yep, he was home in the chair.

we all have our personal Kleenex stash and trash cans ...


they're still in their nests -- I'm at work.


ah choo .....


M
 

so -- so ---

peeps -- after the events of the last 12 hours -- whining about not gardening is trivial.  extremely trivial.

my next rant is going to be facebook.  We all (us facebookers) need to do a better job of editing our comments -- and not broadcasting news, especially news that might not be public knowledge yet ..

I certainly wouldn't want to read about the death of one of my loved ones on facebook -- before I received the call -- and I'm sure the rest of the world agrees with me.





That being said -- hug your loved ones and tell them you love them -- we never know what will happen next ...

M

 

so peeps, I've been thinking

  and maybe thinking way to much. 

  After my mini vacation in July -- 2013 kind of stank.  Seriously, I was always running behind, always trying to hold life together ... there were days, when I'd be ...

--- in the patch before daylight
--- start the day at work
--- at a County meeting
--- off to market
--- back to work to finish out the day
--- pick for market
--- home to crash in bed

 And well, it didn't happen this way once or twice -- more like weeks, so I've decided to take some time off (retire) from the Patch.  My reign as the Wonder Woman clone has come to an end. 

   Normally, I try to order my seed by St Patty's Day and since Christmas I've been attempting to decide to garden or not garden.  So it is the commit or quit moment and quitting/retiring/taking a sabbatical seems to be the best (only) option.

  Thru the chaos of the late summer and early fall, the Patch was labor intensive and suffered the most from my lack of attention.  In 2013, I struggled with Mother Nature, my seeds didn't germinate well, the weeds were obnoxious, it quit raining, it got too hot and the fruit cooked on the vine.  Then the damn bugs moved in .... so ....

  The Patch will be much smaller in 2014 ... a couple hills of this and that ... enough for family and friends...I'm going to miss all of it -- as most of you know -- playing in the dirt is good for the mind and soul.

 

2009 - the year below the hill -- pumpkins galore!

 

yep, pumpkins galore

 

 

market babes -- we toughed it out thru heat, rain, cold and road construction!

 

2010 -- the deer year.  damn critters ..

 

but the melons were tasty.

 

 

my creative scarecrows from 2011

 

2012? .. more pumpkins and the move to the other farm

 

2013 foot prints in the sand ..

 

wowser -- I forgot how cool this load looked -- 2012 .. great year of melons.

 

ah, TGIF

sorry -- phone pix and not sure how to rotate.

baking goodness on Daisy Lane -- actually, thawing it out and baking goodness ... Mom is baking for the scrapbookers event on Saturday and felt the need to thaw them overnight ...

I think she feared they may not rise and well, be tasty, so she started early ....

Cinnamon Butter Braids -- fundraiser item from Kids Corner!

M
 

life amid the boxes

 

okay, I've been tossing boxes and lids on top of one of the file cabinets in the file room ... hard to pitch a good box in the trash .. today I saw Robyn's note on the box for the first time -- or rather read her note. 

 

1/2 full or 1/2 empty is the question of the day ... normally I'm the 1/2 full kind of woman but today my internal batteries are kind of low and slow. 

 

so to "re-charge" myself -- I'm going to need a boost ... hello, coffee, lots of coffee ....

 



darkness is evil

  yes, darkness is evil. 

  so, I forgot to start the back up tape last night so I was here at 5:25am (that would have been 4:25am last week) and it's running and I'm running around working off the network.  amazing how many projects I can find to tidy up without a computer, 'tis good to be unplugged.

  yesterday's education lesson -- hydrology reports and road maintenance.  Drainage ditches -- lots of techie details.  Annual Township Meeting -- road maintenance issues -- and fire contracts ... always a hot topic -- for the 5 of us in the audience. 

  WIN SAINTS !!!

 

8:00PM Williams Arena

 

water, water, water everywhere

   the steady dripping of raindrops this morning.  speeds up the melting (or as I now spell it -- melthing) .. I can see the piles shrinking -- well, I will when the darkness disappears. 

   lots of sirens this morning -- not sure if its police or ambulance but the steady wail ... not a good sound --

   made it to the pool last night -- a little sweating in the water.  'twas a good thing and then back to work for a few "tasks" .. the laughter of the pool is always good for the soul.

  happy melting.

M
 

holy darkness

  yepper, it is dark out there.  Although I understand the rational behind the "daylight savings" concept.  I really don't like it.  Hence, the really early starts last week .. prepping my sleep depraved self for the real switch. 

  it was odd -- to have light out at 7:00pm -- I had homework and was diligently slaving away at the home computer.

  and when I arose this morning elder #2 had screwed up the gmail/google email again.  my gmail/google account.  I will be banning her from the computer from now on ... took an hour (in the darkness) to delete/restore/reclaim my calendar.  dang it.

  yesterday was a dangerous day on 3rd street -- while touring the basement of this old house -- I managed to trip on an old rug -- and crappie flop dramatically -- my knee has a nasty burn/scrap on it ... managed to save the glasses -- Cindy scrapped my tired/battered/bruised self off the floor and got me up the stairs  -- all of this drama because we were checking to see if it was dry down there ... and so far so good -- it's dry.

  the basement is a cool spooky place -- needs a bit of work (cleaning) .. might need to be this summers project ... all of our old files are stored in the newest (as in 1930's) section.  the old steam boilers are still down there and there is a lot of old steam pipes etc.

  happy Monday -- it's going to be a fabulous week!

M
 

the melthing has begun ...

 

 from the front sidewalk looking in ... it's a mighty big pile ... oh I wonder ... what could be hiding behind it ... any guesses?

 

 

that would be Robyn's Yukon (Tahoe) ... a mighty big set of wheels ... totally hidden by the pile ...

looks like a spot of paint is needed eh?

on the porch column, not on the wheels.

 

 

 

not a nice sight on my new roof .... argh ... they got larger and this afternoon I heard a crash and bamm ... they let loose ... good thing no one was standing there...

 

drifting between us and the bar, there are tulips and daffodils underneath this heap ... all drifted in ....

 

 

so --

 

it's been a year -- hard to believe, but a flipping year has gone by -- it's been quiet, sad and downright dull with out Nick. 

 

But I grin and well "that damn cat" is generally uttered over the course of a conversation --  So today, we'll smile -- laugh, and finally toss of the remaining lint rollers and squirt bottles! 

 

and since Nick is/was/will be impossible to replace -- there probably won't be another cat here in this old shack -- although "never say never" ...

 



food ....

 

Thursday mornings breakfast (sorry a repeat from facebook) ... one iced coffee made with snow (no cubes) and a beer stick from Schmidts Meat Market ... caffeine and protein ...

 

and then for lunch it was 2 beer sticks, a hunk of cheese and some dry crackers I found in the junk drawer, my afternoon snack was dry frosted flakes ... need to get tot he grocery store and soon

 

the melting has begun -- slow and steady -- the weather geek was chatting about the flood outlook on TV this morning, minimal in the middle Minnesota River Valley ... evidently, the geek, has not seen my yard.

 

T G I F

 

scream it from the rooftops (or snow piles)

 

 

 

all in a days work

omg -- tractor man is here
scraping ice at 7:00 am

 

yuck

 

the morning view -- I was #1 down the road following elder #1 and his snow plow rig ... this crap is wearing on my nerves

 

Resolution #10 has officially been crossed off my list.

 

and oh .. this was 5:45 am.

 

 

piles everywhere ... desk, chairs, floor ... attempting to manage -- again losing this battle also.

 

 

the dead rose bushes from the front porch have found new life in the heated (attached to the house) porch ... #1 admitted this morning -- he's been feeding them miracle grow.  .... and yes, they've been blooming.  he felt the need to winter over $5 roses bushes. 

5 days until the daylight savings switch -- so I've been working my way into it otherwise ... it can get ugly ... yesterday I was at my desk and working by 5:30 ... today would have been 5:45 if I hadn't felt the need to shovel.
 

 



ha!

warmer upper !!!!

 

July is not that far away .....

 

Wackiness abounds.

 

Happy Monday

Think Warm Thoughts!

 

Sunday Wisdom from 3rd Street

it's self explanatory ... -5 for today's high temperature ... normal is 36'

needless to say, this is getting old. 

tomorrow is not better

so

 

 

thinking better thoughts

I have only 6 more Saturdays to work ...

'tis a good thing (I think)

that would be 6 long Saturdays.

 



breaks ...

  attitude adjustment ...
  mental health ...

   crazy people and crazy weather ... it adds up to stressing out and crabbing out at people.  yep, I'm crabby crappy. 

   but it's going to warm up by next weekend.  I've got a turkey sandwich stashed in the fridge and I'm going to finish up a few thousand projects today and tomorrow! 

   M